


Secret Keeper

by Karama9



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Gen, Identity Reveal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-20
Updated: 2020-04-20
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:53:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23754160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Karama9/pseuds/Karama9
Summary: Some moments change your life. Some truths change you.Quick one shot for Alya Appreciation Week.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 24





	Secret Keeper

Alya had always been a big fan of information, of knowledge. She had a deep appreciation for how much difference it could make to be well informed. Socially, how well informed the population was could straight up make the difference between a utopia and a factual dictatorship by a manipulative upper class: knowledge was power, and denying knowledge to people robbed them of power even in a supposed democracy. 

All evil needed to win was for good people to do nothing, and history kept proving it was easy to get good people to do nothing: you just had to prevent them from finding out something needed to be done.

It was one of the reasons she was determined to become a reporter. Never, in her wildest dreams, had she ever thought she’d ever be given a good reason to withhold information.

And then she’d opened a lost book. 

A school book, accidentally dropped by her heroine Ladybug. And like most students, Ladybug had written her name in the space provided so that if she lost the book, it could be returned to her. Except of course, Ladybug had written her real name. Alya had expected as much: it was why one of the very first thing she’d done upon finding the book had been to open it.

Some moments can change your life. It all came down to information, didn’t it always? A new knowledge that spurred a new thought, a new awareness. She had stared at the name for a long time. Perhaps for the first time in her life, she had information that she didn’t want to share. Couldn’t share. 

She had felt incredibly foolish for ever having wanted to uncover, and PUBLISH, Ladybug’s identity. In hindsight, it seemed obvious that doing so would be a great disservice to the super hero. She’d always known super heroes had secret identities for a reason, but in comic books, you always did know who they were. The reality of the need for secrecy had never really registered with Alya. Sure, super heroes had secret identities in comic books, but in real life, secrets and misinformation were the enemy. Or so she’d thought. As it turned out, she’d been WAY oversimplifying, and she could see that clearly now.

She had also felt immensely guilty. Over something she hadn’t done but would have if the name in that book had been nearly any other than Marinette Dupain-Cheng.  
She had eventually closed the book, put it down on her desk and forced herself to focus on her next steps. She had almost made a very, very bad mistake. But she hadn’t. No harm had been done, and she had a chance to turn this near catastrophe into an opportunity. Instead of being a threat to Ladybug, she’d help her best friend, and even Marinette would never find out. It’d be her version of a canary in the mine shaft: if Marinette ever realized Alya knew, others might too. Hawkmoth might too. And Hawkmoth would do whatever he needed to get his hands on Alya if he knew she could tell him who Ladybug was. She’d be in danger, and so would her family, and it was a safe bet she would be forced to do what Hawkmoth wanted and doom Marinette.

She wasn't going to let that happen. She'd play the part of the oblivious best friend, and she'd play it to perfection. She'd play the part of the blogger determined to get the credit for discovering who Ladybug was, and she'd play THAT to perfection too. She couldn't fail, so she wouldn't. Simple as that.

She took a deep breath and turned on her camera to record, and gleefully announced that the book had to be from her school, and let her audience assume there had been no name in it after all since she had only been able to narrow down the field rather than to straight up identify Ladybug.

Knowledge was incredibly valuable. Information was a powerful weapon. And she’d be damned if she ever let Hawkmoth have it.


End file.
